Skylight



Jan. 16, 1951 w. G. MOORE 2,538,319

SKYLIGHT Filed Jan. 18, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Closed Attorney Jan. 16, 1951 Filed Jan. 18, 1949 W. G. MOORE SKYLIGHT 2 SheetsSheet 2 Attorney Patented Jan. 16, 1951 SKYLIGHT- Walter Gordon Moore, Liverpool, England Application January 18,1949, Serial No. 71,499 In Great Britain January 23,1948

3 Claims.

This invention is for improvements in. or relating to skylights, ventilators and the like. The invention is particularly concerned with skylights of the kind provided for admitting light and air to propelling power space. A typical application of a skylight of this kind is to a ships engine room.

Skylights as constructed heretofore have been in the form of hinged flaps. Such skylights have the defect that when open to provide Ventilation they do not exclude rain and the like and furthermore the outgoing streams of hot gases collide with the incoming stream of cold air and from a vortex which interferes with efficient ventilation. Such hinged-flap skylights are also open to the objection that they do not form a light screen and this is a serious dis-- advantage in times of war. Another defect in hinged-flap skylights is that they are often heavy and difficult to handle when it is required to open and close them and for this reason are also liable to be the cause of personal injuries.

An object of the present invention is to overcomethe above mentioned defects in skylights. According to the present invention there is provided a skylight, ventilator or the like wherein the skylight proper, or equivalent, is supported by means which provide for both inward and outward bodily movement of the skylight proper towards and away from the skylight opening, or equivalent, and also for lateral movement of said skylight proper with respect to the skylight opening.

According to a further feature of the present invention there is provided a skylight, ventilator or the like wherein the skylight proper, or equivalent, is swingingly supported by means of pivoted links which provide for both inward and outward bodily movement of the skylight proper towards and away from theskylight opening, or equivalent, and also for lateral movement of said skylight proper with respect to the skylight Opening. Briefly put, and in other words, the skylight proper moves somewhat like one member of a parallel rule when the other member (representing the fixed part of the skylight structure) is held stationary.

The links may form leg-like supports for the skylight proper or the latter may be supported in suspension by the links. In the preferred embodiment of the invention there are at least two links on each side of the skylight and adjacent the corners thereof. The manipulation of the. skylight proper may be effected directly by hand or from a distance (e. g. some distance below it), by a mechanical or other remote control gear. The manner in which the skylight proper is supported may be such as to reduce considerably the effort required to open and close it as compared with an ordinary hinged-flap skylight. It will be appreciated in this conneci 2 tion that the links may be arranged to provide a certain amount of mechanical advantage and furthermore the lifting of the skylight is in effect achieved by the application of a force to the skylight proper in the plane thereof instead of by a direct lift.

Conveniently a longitudinal cowl extends along the crown of the skylight to prevent the entry of rain when the skylight is open. It will be appreciated that when the skylight is open there is a substantial overhang of the skylight proper at the edge remote from the crown so as to prevent the entry of rain in the region of this edge.

One embodiment of the invention as applied to a ventilating skylight for, say, the propelling power space of a ship will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings. On the drawings:

Figure l is a perspective view of the skylight,

Figure 2 is a semi-diagrammatic cross-section through the skylight, and

Figure 3 is adiagrammatic section through the skylight and shows the manner in which it acts to provide efficient ventilation.

The skylight comprises a trunk-way-opening or aperture ll! surrounded by a frame H and two skylights proper or leaves [2 and I3 supported above said frame so as to provide for the closure of the upper open end thereof. The two skylights proper are arranged at an angle in the usual way and, when closed, their inner edges M are supported (see the skylight l2) by a central longitudinal girder I5, said inner edges having upwardly projecting flanges [6 which rest on or against the girder l5. In addition to the girder I53. the crown of the skylight also comprises a longitudinal cowl ll supported by and above the girder. This cowl is of arcuate crosssection and has a substantial overhang [8 on either side: of the girder 15.

For the purpose of the present invention each skylight proper is supported by four links l9, two at each end. The lower ends of the links are. pivoted to the skylight frame I I by shafts 20 mounted in. bearin brackets 2| the links being fixed to. the shafts 2B... The upper ends of the links are pivotally connected to lugs 22 projecting from the skylights proper. In the closed position of the skylight (see the skylight [2) the links l9 extend at an angle upwardly and inwardly towards the crown whereas when the skylight is open (see the skylight [3) the links or some of them extend at an angle upwardly and slightly outwardly.

To. open the skylight the skylight proper is swung outwardly until the member [6 on its inner edge, which in the closed positions rests on the girder Is as previously described, comes up against the lower longitudinal edge 23 of the cowl I! (see the skylight [3) which forms a stop to retain it intheopen position. In moving from the closed to the open position and vice versa the links pass through a dead-centre position so that the weight of the skylights retains them automatically against their stops or supports (23 and in the open and closed positions.

The outer portion 24 of the skylight proper has a downturned part 25 which in the closed position comes up against or close to the frame I I to help to provide a, weather-proof closure.

When the skylight is open there is a considerable overhang of the outer portion 24 of the skylight proper (see Figure 3) to prevent ingress of rain under this edge whilst the cowl prevents the entry of rain at the crown of the skylight. In using a skylight according to the present invention efiicient ventilation can be obtained with only one skylight proper in the open position as shown in the drawings. The stream of cool air (see Figure 3) passes under the outer edge 24 of the open skylight proper and the hot air and gases to be exhausted pass out via the cowl and the space 8 between the edge 23 thereof and the closed leaf of the skylight.

The manner in which the skylights proper are supported facilitates easy manipulation thereof. For local operation one of the shafts 20 of each skylight proper may be provided with a hand lever 26. Intermediate positions between fully closed and fully open may be obtained by securing the hand lever, in any one of several angular positions, to a member 26a on the frame, by a pin adapted to be inserted in any one of a number of holes 2'! in the member 26a.

For the remote opening and closing of the skylight cords 28 (see Figure, 2) may be provided, these cords being connected to the links as shown and taken over pulley wheels 29 for attachment to some convenient operating position. Balance weights 3c are provided on the shafts 20 to counter-balance the weight of the skylights.

In an alternative form of remote operating arrangement at least one of the supporting links of each skylight proper, is formed as a bell-crank lever and the free arms of the levers are connected to a common vertical rod or to separate vertical rods adapted to be raised and lowered to operate the skylight through a screw mechanism and gearing and a handwheel or wheels located at some convenient position. The links l9 or equivalent members may be adjustable in length (e. g. may comprise two parts connected together and extensible by a screw threaded device) This adjustability provides some latitude for the fitting of the skylights and permits the maximum amount of opening to be pre-selected.

As an alternative to the pivoted link supporting arrangement above described the skylights proper of said frames, links having pivotal supports on the frames and on the skylights proper and swingingly supporting said skylights proper on their frames for inward and outward bodily movement towards and away from the skylight openings and also for lateral movement of the skylights proper with respect to the skylight openings, a cowl, means supporting said cowl over the common apex of the frames and spaced therefrom, and stops on said cowl limiting movement of the skylights in the opening direction, the links when the skylights proper are moved from a closed to an open position passing through a dead centre position whereby the weight of the skylights proper serves to maintain them against said stops.

A skylight comprising two frames sloping downwardly from a common apex and each having a skylight opening, a skylight proper in each of said frames, links having pivotal supports on the frames and on the skylights proper and swingingly supporting said skylights proper on their frames for inward and outward bodily movement towards and away from the skylight openings and also for lateral movement of the skylights proper with respect to the skylight openings a cowl, means supporting said cowl over the common apex of the frames and spaced therefrom, longitudinal lower edges of said cowl forming stops limiting movement of the skylight in the opening direction and longitudinal outer edges of the frames limiting movement of the skylights proper in the closing direction, the links when the skylight proper is moved from an open to a closed position and vice versa passing through a dead centre position whereby the weight of the skylight proper serves to maintain it against said movement limiting edges, said edges and the skylights proper having means providing a weathermay be slidably supported in guides arranged to provide for the required inward and outward and lateral movement of the skylights.

The skylight according to the present inven tion lends itself to a simple arrangement for operation from within, say, the propelling power space or from the outside. This is an advantage because in the case of a fire in the engine room it is important that the skylight ventilator should be closed. If the internal operating mechanism is not accessible because of the fire it is an easy matter to close the skylight by, say, one of the hand-levers 26.

I claim:

1. A skylight comprising two frames sloping downwardly from a common apex and each having a skylight opening, a skylight proper in each tight joint between said edges and the skylight proper.

3. A skylight comprising a frame sloping downwardly and having a skylight opening, a skylight proper in said frame, links having pivoted supports on the frame and on the skylight proper and swingingly supporting said skylight proper on the frame for inward and outward bodily movement towards and away from the skylight opening and also for lateral movement of the skylight proper with respect to the skylight open- REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 719,203 Dreyer Jan. 27, 1903 1,486,27 6 Blacki Mar. 11, 1924 1,558,296 Schaub Oct. 20, 1925 1,668,421 Rysdon May 1, 1928 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 294 Great Britain 1867 

